


Rogue Squadron Flight School

by DesertVixen



Category: Star Wars Legends: X-Wing Series - Aaron Allston & Michael Stackpole
Genre: Gen, Generally Canon Compliant, post-Starfighters of Adumar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28256106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/pseuds/DesertVixen
Summary: Post Starfighters of Adumar, Wedge Antilles has an idea...
Relationships: Wedge Antilles & Tycho Celchu & Wes Janson & Derek "Hobbie" Klivian
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Rogue Squadron Flight School

**Author's Note:**

  * For [izzybeth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/izzybeth/gifts).



Rogue Squadron had many victories – and more than their fair share of casualties along the way. The pilots who had survived being part of the historic unit had gone onto other squadrons, teaching their skills to other pilots. It was a natural way of things, even if certain members of Rogue Squadron found themselves drawn together again and again. Wedge Antilles was a New Republic general, but his most treasured title was that of Rogue Leader.

Teaching other pilots, whether explicitly instructing or by simply serving as an example – not always a positive example, Wedge thought with a grin, remembering a few times he’d used a pilot to teach a lesson they badly needed to learn – was rewarding. It wasn’t as exciting as setting up for a run on the Death Star, but it was needed. 

Hopefully there would be no more Death Stars. But the galaxy would always need pilots.

Until their experiences on Adumar, however, Wedge had never given serious thought to the idea of Rogue Squadron running a flight school – not just to train new Rogues up, but to train new pilots.

Adumar had been one of the most difficult – and yet, he thought warmly, one of the most rewarding – experiences in his career with the New Republic. At first, it had seemed like relatively light duty – be a diplomatic figurehead on a planet where they revered pilots, to the point of insisting that the delegations to their world be composed of fighter pilots. Who would have thought Wes Janson would get tired of people fawning over him – especially if they happened to be young, attractive female pilots?

The Adumari adoration of fighter pilots had proven to have a dark side, making them a society obsessed with honor, dueling to the death, and wasting lives over nothing.

Wedge had no objection to shooting down an enemy pilot in a battle – after all, the enemy pilot was doing their best to shoot him down – but it turned his stomach to take out another pilot for no good reason. They had talented pilots, but their concept of honor had contaminated their tactics, dictating that they should all converge on the target with the highest profile. So rather than copying their Imperial counterparts – who had been taking full advantage of the Adumari pilots’ lesser abilities and equipment to bump up their kills – Wedge and the other three had eventually started an impromptu flight school by dueling with sims. Their prestige had made it acceptable, and the fact that they had been willing to simply fly with their opponents after losing a duel had intrigued many.

The mission to Adumar had gone awry through no fault of the Rogues, forcing them to fight their way out. They had been ultimately successful, but other pilots had paid a heavy toll, including some pilots who had started absorbing the lessons the Rogues had to teach. Captain ke Mattino and his Strike the Moons flight group were one of those groups. They had not only absorbed the lessons, they had bought Wedge and his friends time with their lives.

The thing was, despite the whole part of the trip where they got duped by a New Republic official with other priorities, Wedge had found he really enjoyed teaching and training when there wasn’t a threat of immediate death. He had lost too many people to Imperial pilots with greater skill or better luck. As a Corellian, Wedge never wanted to know the odds – but in his heart, he knew he’d beaten them time and again.

He wanted to give more pilots a chance at beating those odds. 

*** 

First, of course, he had to talk to Tycho – Colonel Celchu – about using Rogue Squadron. He commanded the squadron, but Wedge anticipated little trouble. When he had been questioning whether or not it was worth bringing Adumar into the New Republic, Tycho had pointed out that they weren’t slow to learn about new ideas.

With Tycho on board, it was time to get Wes Janson and Hobbie in on the plan. They were two men that he would absolutely trust with his life – and had, numerous times. More than that, they had also been on Adumar and seen the impact they could have by being a good influence – as opposed to a bad one, which was where those two generally excelled. If there was trouble, those two knew how to find it. 

Hobbie was well-known in their circle for his trouble with landings, and had joked that he should have a sponsorship deal with a bacta cartel. Janson was a practical joker who never missed an opportunity to have fun at someone else’s expense. Time and again, however, Wedge turned to them because they got results. They made an odd pair – Hobbie always dour and mournful, Janson always ready with a joke and devilish grin – but they were inseparable.

“I’ll be glad to pitch in,” Janson had said cheerfully. “In fact, I know another pilot who would be delighted to join in on the effort.”

“Wes,” Wedge growled, “if you’re thinking about a certain Ewok pilot, you had better think again.”

“Of course I wouldn’t dream of asking Lieutenant Kettch-“ Wes started.

“Because he does. Not. Exist,” Wedge said with a warning in his voice.

“Of course not,” Wes agreed. “I was thinking of Gavin Darklighter, actually.”

Wedge considered. Gavin would make a good addition to the mix, and he was a seasoned competent pilot. “Not a bad idea. I can only assume someone else suggested it to you.”

*** 

It always felt good to put on a plain flightsuit again, and his battered helmet, with the paint touched up slightly. It felt good just to be a pilot again, not the General.

The flight school idea had been well-received, especially once he’d twisted Cracken’s arm a little bit. Tycho had enlisted Winter’s help to get Leia on their side, and that was half the battle right there. He generally wasn’t a name-dropper, but there was no point in knowing all the respectable people if you couldn’t take advantage now and then.

The decision had been made to limit the first iteration to Adumari pilots only, and to dedicate the flight school to the Adumari pilots who had been killed in the battle for that world. Wedge was in agreement, and the New Republic detachment stationed there had screened the candidates, sending them a pool of twenty. That would allow for two training squadrons, with two New Republic pilots in each. They would be divided into Red and Gold, and Wedge intended to encourage friendly competition – not that the Adumari pilots really needed any help when it came to being competitive.

As the commander of Rogue Squadron, Tycho welcomed them, and explained the protocol for the next three Galactic standard weeks. Janson and Hobbie would act as team captains, with Gavin Darklighter and Ooryl Qyrgg assisting them. Wedge had decided to include the Gand pilot to give the Adumari a little more exposure to more alien pilots – and the fact that Ooryl could fly rings around most pilots, whatever their race, would not hurt.

It hadn’t taken much deliberation to decide what simulation they should start off with. It was a Rogue Squadron tradition to try new pilots out on the first Death Star run, although they usually did it one pilot a time. For this occasion, the student pilots would be in pairs. Wedge grinned as he headed for his TIE fighter simulator. He was going to have a little fun with Red Leader – Wes Janson having won the credit flip.

*** 

Later that afternoon, after the simulator, they held a social hour so that the students could mingle with other pilots. There was more to the flight school than just tactics, Wedge thought – some of the most valuable lessons might come from these social hours, learning about other members of the New Republic. He was searching for a specific pilot, having seen the name “Balass ke Rassa” on the list of attendees. Wedge didn’t know how the young perator had managed to shirk his governmental duties for a few weeks, but he thought it would be valuable. He’d definitely introduce the young man to Leia when she dropped in as promised.

On this way, however, he was stopped by a small, slim woman with dark hair and a determined look on her face. “General Antilles? My name is Captain Laina ke Mattino. My brother was Captain Liak ke Mattino.”

Wedge took her extended hand. “Your brother was a brave an honorable pilot.”

She nodded. “He had wanted to bring me to meet you before…” Her voice trailed off and she gave a slight shake of her head.

“I am glad to have known him,” Wedge said gravely. “We owe him a great debt of gratitude. He bought time for us to escape.”

“He was pleased to do it,” Laina said. “He would have enjoyed this.”

“Are you enjoying it?” 

Laina grinned. “Except for coming to a rather inglorious end in the simulator, yes. I look forward to learning more.”

She moved off, and Wedge looked around for Balass ke Rassa. 

This flight school was really turning out to be one of his better ideas.

*** 

"I will say," Tycho said later as he met with Hobbie and Wes in his quarters later that evening, "this flight school isn't a bad idea. They are seem pretty willing to learn, and not just about flying."

"Makes you think there might be some hope for Adumar after all, if they can keep Cartann from running everything." Hobbie, like the rest of them, had initially enjoyed the atmosphere on Adumar - worshipping fighter pilots, even ones who tended to make violent contact with the ground on a regular basis, was definitely the way to his heart. The normally dour man was in a more cheerful mood, since Gold Squadron had outscored - very slightly, Wes Janson had pointed out - Red Squadron.

"It's working out nicely," Wes agreed. He'd been shot down on four out of the five runs, but on the fifth glorious run he had managed to make a certain TIE fighter bite the dust. It wasn't very often he could say that. "And you didn't have to fly in Porkins's spot in the simulator."

They grinned at each other. Hobbie's habit of crashing had led to a tradition of him being Red Six in the simulator, but of the three he was the best trainer, having spent a significant portion of his career doing just that. 

Tycho was enjoying relaxing with two of his oldest squadron mates. It was good to have some time with people who viewed him as part of the gang, not the commander, even if Janson and Hobbie combined could drive a person crazy. It was a reminder of how much the three of them had been through together, both in the cockpit and the numerous other missions the Rogues had carried out. 

"It's too bad we couldn't get some more of the old Rogues," Tycho mused. "Imagine having Elscol Loro or Plourr to show this crowd a thing or two."

Hobbie shook his head. "I don't think they need that much of a bad influence."

"What we need," Wes said after a moment, "is a new way to drive Wedge up the wall."

Tycho gave him a stern glare. "Something more annoying than Lieutenant Kettch? I'm scared to ask what you're thinking of."

"I'm not thinking of anything right this moment," Wes said, ignoring the muffled laugh from Hobbie. "But especially if this flight school gets to be a regular thing, there should be something to create a real team spirit. Something to bring people together."

"You could bring back your flatscreen cape with the dancing Jansons," Hobbie suggested. "Whoever has the lowest score has to wear it for the rest of the day."

"Sounds like a good idea," Janson agreed. "I have it somewhere."

"Sounds like a punishment to me," Tycho murmured.

"Keep it up, and I'll have something for you as well," Janson promised. "Just because you're Rogue Leader now doesn't mean I can't shoot you down."

Yes, Tycho thought as he listened to Janson and Hobbie hatch their newest plot to annoy Wedge, it was good to be back together again.

All the same, he would have to keep an eye on these two and make sure the flight school didn't get too rowdy. Their students didn't need a tour of the local jail.

The flight school really was turning out to be one of Wedge's better ideas.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like it! I enjoyed taking the Fab 4 out to play. I had to reread the book (horrors!) but I think it all worked out!


End file.
